


Children of the Gods

by parakeetlee



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Book/Movie Fusion, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, F/M, Gen, Gods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-08-02
Updated: 2011-10-19
Packaged: 2017-10-22 02:46:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/232895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parakeetlee/pseuds/parakeetlee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I was fifteen and I was told I was crazy for thinking Zeus was my dad. That I had abandonment issues from not knowing who my birth father was and had invented a father figure based on Greek mythology. Never mind that I always knew when a thunderstorm or tornado was going to happen. Never mind that my friends were air currents."</p><p>John Sheppard isn't crazy. Not by a long shot.</p><p>*Doesn't contain practically anything canon for the Olympian books and what is there I've messed with*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reunions

**Author's Note:**

> This is an SGA/Percy Jackson & the Olympians fusion with about 80% of Percy Jackson background given the finger and re-written to fit SGA and no actual Jackson characters in it though a few maybe mentioned later on. Right now, it's gen and PG. May change, but will not be explicit because I don't do sex scenes. Also not beta-ed. Be wary... this is WIP and I kind of suck at updating. If you're confused by the first chapter, don't worry, it'll be explained in depth soon.

      Even if Rodney hadn’t been able to recognize that mophead of John’s from a mile away, he would have known who and what he was the instant he was called into the chair room, skidding to a halt in shock. The thick ozone smell mixed with the sharp crackling under his skin was a dead giveaway. After the initial surprise and ensuing ruckus over the uber-gene that was Major John Sheppard, USAF (though Rodney should have known that John would have the gene that strong), he, somewhat roughly, barged into Sheppard’s newly assigned quarters in the research post.

 

      “John! Where, in all the realms, have you been?!” Rodney demanded, not allowing John to turn him away or stop his tirade. “You just show up out of the blue after fifteen years! I haven’t seen you since you just stopped coming to camp! What, in Zeus’s name, happened?! You left camp without even a word to Carson, Chiron, or even me!”

 

      “Rodney…” John tried to interject, but was waved off impatiently. Rodney was on a roll.

 

      “No. You don’t get to stop me. Not after leaving in the middle of summer, without saying goodbye or why you had to leave or anything at all really, and especially not after disappearing for the next fifteen odd years!” Rodney paused for a breath and John took the opportunity it presented.

 

      “My mom died, Rodney.” John’s voice was subdued, quiet. It only added to the impact of this revelation. Rodney froze, mid-gesture. He knew exactly how important John’s mother had been to him. “She never told my step-dad. He decided that I was too old for summer camp and when I tried to tell him… They thought I was delusional. Grief-stricken over mom’s death or something. The Mist worked too well. I couldn’t run away from home and when I signed up for the Air Force, I couldn’t get any time to come by. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the elementals that Dad sent to keep me company, I would have believed I had imagined it all. I was fifteen and I was told I was crazy for thinking Zeus was my dad. That I had abandonment issues from not knowing who my birth father was and had invented a father figure based on Greek mythology. Never mind that I always knew when a thunderstorm or tornado was going to happen. Never mind that my friends were _air currents_.”

 

      “He couldn’t see? How mortal was he? The Mist is great and all, but around here it’s more hit and miss. I guess the Gate requires people to be more observant than most.” Rodney let his hands fall as he considered the guy he had grown up with, one his best friends for over six years. “That explains a lot. I never liked your step-dad. I really don’t know what your mom saw in _him_.”

 

      “He really did love my mom, Rodney. And she wanted to give me a normal, mortal childhood when I wasn’t at camp.” John defended his mom’s choice. Rodney snorted in disbelief.

 

      “Oh, yes, that’s genius. Son of the King of the Gods raised by the most stubbornly mortal idiot this side of Hades.” Rodney scorned.

 

      “Same old Rodney.” John responded ruefully, grinning slightly. It was good to see him again, despite his somewhat abrasive nature. “I take it you’re working with the Air Force on this?”

 

      “They do need the best of the best. Genius, after all. Frankly I should have known that you’d have the gene really strong. Although, I really hadn’t thought about you since you left. Not except to wonder if you were okay occasionally.” Rodney still sounded a little hurt. John knew that the prickly ‘nerd’ had never made friends easily and that it had hurt even more when he had left so abruptly.

 

      “I know Rodney. I missed you like crazy too. If everyone who has the gene is Godborn or at least related, does that mean…” John started. Rodney’s face fell and he nodded.

 

      “Ares. I wouldn’t mention it though. He’s not on speaking terms with him. Not that I blame him. Ares let his grandson die from a bullet from O’Neill’s own weapon. The general’s never forgiven him. Ares hasn’t pushed the issue. A wise move, even your uncle was pissed about it. So much so that the Goa’uld have found it nearly impossible to kill him in battle.” Rodney grimaced. John paled and nodded in understanding. Gods were usually quite protective of their descendants; to find one who had allowed his own grandchild to go to Hades before he had a chance to live was unthinkable, especially by a gun, a weapon of war. “I’m not surprised you missed it. The smell of gunpowder is so common around soldiers and the feeling of clashing swords is easily masked by the vibration of the chopper you flew in. He probably knew about you, though. I’m never sure what percentage of the things he does is actually cunning versus blind luck.”

 

      “There has to be some reason he let me down here besides the fact I managed to outwit that glow-y squid thing. And his ‘advice’ was spectacularly **un** helpful. AJ and CJ had their hands full just helping me avoid that thing; having to ignore his instructions was distracting.” John held out his hands and let AJ land on his right while CJ settled on his left. AJ was a tropical current full of warm air as opposed to CJ who was a cold front current. Their duality allowed him to stay quite comfortable in any climate. He dropped his hands slowly, letting them unfurl. AJ helpfully drifted over to McKay briefly, warming his face with a pleasant breeze. Rodney nodded and gave a small smile.

 

      “I’m glad they were there for you when you needed them.” He hesitated and bit his lip before continuing. “You have to know, I would have visited you. All you had to do was call and I would have been on the first flight.”

 

      “I know, Rodney. I know.” John ruffled the back of his hair nervously. “I’m sorry.”


	2. Chaos Spawn

Everything was unraveling. That’s what it felt like anyway. Somehow he made it back to the jumper, Ford nearly dragging him. The small dogfight and return to Atlantis was fuzzy. As soon as he set down in the landing bay, a wave of cold just washed over him. He could feel AJ struggling to get him warm, flowing over and around him but it had little effect. Everyone was disembarking except Ford who was just sitting in the copilot seat and staring. There was a hint of fear there mixed with a lot of awe and worry. John decided to think about that a little later and stood up to leave. Well, that’s what he intended. What happened was more of an upward lurch followed by a near face-planting. He’s fairly sure he blacked out then. Nearly positive, in fact.

 

***

 

      “I’m sorry, Elizabeth. You know about as much as I do right now. When we got to him in the Jumper, Major Sheppard was in a severe state of shock. Until he wakes up, we have no way of figuring out why. Medically, he should be fine. We’re giving him fluids and keeping him warm, but until his mind is ready to wake up, we have to wait.” Carson’s presence was the first thing John felt. It had always been comforting at camp, but it seemed even more so now that they were grown. John basked in the internal feeling of the warm sun beaming down on him, though his weather sense told him it was nearly midnight. Nothing like the son of the Sun god to warm you up quickly. Carson had always leaned more towards the healing aspects of Apollo than any affinity for fire, but that didn’t mean he was capable of wielding it when he needed to. John shifted slightly, settling more deeply into the infirmary bed. Here, within Carson’s domain, ripe with warmth and healing, it was hard to rationalize the cold he’d felt earlier. His movement brought the conversation in the room to a halt and he felt AJ wrap around him in joy. “Major Sheppard? John?”

 

      “Hey, Carson.” John opened his eyes slowly, letting them adjust. Carson, as quick as ever, did a check of his pupils and then raised the head of the bed.

 

      “How are you feeling?” Carson asked quietly. John bit his lip as he remembered just why he’d collapsed.

 

      “You need to get Rodney. Right now.” John ordered. Carson nodded immediately and simply raised a hand to his radio.

 

      “Rodney, you can come in now. Aye, he’s fine.” Carson sounded slightly amused. A few seconds later, John realized why. Rodney must have been sitting right outside the infirmary, waiting. Dr. Weir followed him in. John grimaced slightly. He’d known that chances were pretty good she’d figure them out or catch them doing something supposed to be impossible, but the first day? Jeez, their luck sucked.

 

      “John!” Rodney called out as he approached. John raised a hand to reassure him. “What happened?”

 

      “Rodney…” John swallowed nervously, glancing at Dr. Weir. “The Wraith, Rodney. Gods.”

 

      “What is it, lad?” Carson’s hand was comforting on his shoulder, the warmth banishing his shivers. John took a deep breath.

 

      “Dr. Weir, I need to report the death of Colonel Marshall Sumner. I shot him.” John continued quickly, trying to ignore the wide-eyed looks. “When we arrived at the Wraith stronghold we managed to ascertain the location of the prisoners, but Sumner and an Athosian had already been taken for questioning. I ordered Ford and the other to secure the prisoners and to get them back to the Puddlejumper and went to rescue Sumner. I managed to find a balcony overlooking his position. There was a female Wraith and she was torturing him, looking for a way to Earth. Gods, Rodney, she was **unraveling** his thread!”

 

      “Oh, Hades.” Rodney’s whisper was horrified. One of the benefits of being the nephew of the King of the Underworld meant that John had the ability to see and, when in close vicinity to someone about to die, feel as the Fates snipped a person’s thread of life. No one had ever heard of unraveling a thread before. It was against the natural order and balance of life. Carson had paled significantly. He looked about two steps away from needing a hospital bed himself.

 

      “Chaos spawn.” Carson shivered. “Bloody hell, lad. No wonder you were in such a bad shape.”

 

      “He met my eyes and asked me to end it. He was so close when I fired, I thought for sure that I wouldn’t make it. I don’t want to ever see what happens to a person’s soul when their thread is undone like that. It managed to stay long enough to be cut properly, thank the gods.” John twisted his hands in the sheets, then reached up his neck. Hanging right beside his own tags were Sumner’s. He’d found his way down after the shot and managed to grab them after killing the Caretaker. He hadn’t known she was connected to the entire hive. Gods, that sucked. He picked up the chain and lifted it over his head. “I tied Sumner’s soul to his dog tags. It’s a long way to Los Angeles and, assuming we ever get a chance to go back, I will speak for him in Hades’ courts and testify to his right to enter the realm of heroes. It’s the least I can do.”

 

      “I’m sure Sumner appreciates that, son. Now I’m going to give you a sedative, Rodney and I are going to field Elizabeth’s no doubt endless questions, and when you wake up I’ll see if I can spare some ambrosia. It should help allay your symptoms.” Carson smiled gently as he inserted to contents of a syringe into John’s IV. John gave a tiny nod and allowed himself to drift away.

 

***


	3. Ancient History

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez. The ambiguity in Greek mythology is kind of ridiculous. So, Helios is the actual God of Sun and Light, but several records show Apollo as Apollo Helios where he also has the Sun and light in his sphere of influence. So.. since Apollo is at least an Olympian and 90% more likely to be recognized as the Sun God by people who haven't spent all night trying to find out all about him, I'll be using Apollo. Another note, Athena is one of the virgin goddesses which makes Rodney and Jeannie a bit problematic from our point of view. For anyone who can't stand to wait until McKay tells us how that's possible, it'll pretty much follow Annabeth's birth in the Jackson books. For those who haven't read the books and still don't want to wait, I'll explain at the end of the chapter.

      “I take it you three have something that you didn’t mention in SGC intake and debriefing?” Dr. Weir’s voice was wry and remarkably steady as she watched her new military CO fall asleep. She raised her eyebrows as Rodney and Carson traded guilty looks. Most of the conversation had been solely for their benefit and she was struggling to keep up. She did know enough of Greek mythology to recognize Hades and the Underworld, but how it related to her CO, CMO, and Chief Scientist she had yet to put together. Carson waved them to his office and she followed, speculating. What she found out when she got there was startling.

 

      “First off, Elizabeth, I speak for all of us in saying that we’re sorry. It’s generally kept within the family and even finding mortals who can see through the Mist much less who believe us is supposed to be rare. Supposed to be, though the SGC tends to require minds that can believe the impossible and see the improbable.” Rodney took a deep breath and tried to remember to slow it down so she could follow along. “What I’m going to say is about as far-fetched as finding a pristine Ancient city called Atlantis in another galaxy on the bottom of the ocean floor. The Ascended have a non-interference law in place in regards to humans and helping us to Ascend in turn has never been looked upon favorably. Not because they feel we’re too primitive as they claim, but because they fear us. Nearly every Lantean and Ascended would rather take a bullet in the brain rather than help us achieve enlightenment. Because the Ascended for all their abilities and fancy glowing have nothing on us. The story starts a ridiculously long time ago before history was recorded, for us at least. The Ancients as we know them broke off from the rest of their people who were searching for the ability to Ascend via religion and instead searched for scientific enlightenment in both the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies. They settled on Earth for quite a while, studying the unusual beings they found there. Not only were there seeds of the human race, but the Earth was filled with elementals, creatures able to structure their surroundings to suit themselves. The Ancients were fascinated by them so much they even attempted to use such gifts by altering their own DNA with fragments of the elementals. It, the ATA gene, is what gave the Ancients their healing and other mind tricks. But the elementals were not structured or intelligent enough to really be of further use to them, so they eventually left to come here, thus becoming Lanteans. What so terrifies them about humans is that, when they were forced to flee back to Earth, they found that the elementals who had been so innocuous and rare had blossomed. Humans you see, place a lot of stock into what happens in life and death and their belief, their conviction that the elementals were gods was so strong that their legends became reality. I mean, obviously the Egyptian and Norse gods were more real and didn’t require as much absolute faith and belief as the Greeks and Romans. The latter’s belief created the gods of Greek mythology. A lot has gotten distorted or exaggerated by time, but they’ve survived the millennia based first on humanity’s belief and second on their own connection their elements. The Ascended fear our ability to create gods.”

 

      “How do you know all of this, Rodney?” Dr. Weir’s mind was spinning furiously, slotting pieces of the puzzle in as he talked. Rodney shrugged.

 

      “A lot of it I figured out after coming to the SGC, but the Greek gods are real thing? I’ve known that since birth. Creatures that strong, gods, don’t just die. And the legends of their affairs with humans, while exaggerated beyond proportion for the time period, weren’t all false. My father was a genius which, believe it or not, was incredibly attractive to the goddess Athena. My sister and I are her children, demigods.” McKay explained. “It’s where the ATA gene comes from, though mine is recessive due to my god-parent being my mother. I was a little put out. I had Carson double-check the results and everything.”

 

      “So everyone with the ATA gene is related to the Greek gods?” She asked.

 

      “Aye, lass. Many of the others we brought along are much more diluted, enough so that they don’t know their background. Besides us three who are demigods, I believe at least Kusanagi is a quarter-blood. One of her grandparents was probably a god. I am the son of Apollo. We tend to find our talents and passions are closely linked to our god-parent’s realm of influence. Apollo is god of healing and medicine as well as the sun and light.” Carson called light his hands, allowing her to see some his abilities. “I’ve always found healing and medicine more comfortable than the other aspects of his realm, though I can hold fire without burning.”

 

      “That’s beautiful, Carson.” Dr. Weir put out her hand hesitantly, tracing the ethereal glow his hands were admitting.

 

      “It should be. He does channel the essence of the sun, you know.” Rodney sniffed, not impressed by the light show. “It’s the same thing for me. I tend more toward the cunning intelligence and strategy part of Athena’s realm.”

 

      “Isn’t she a war goddess? You’re usually pretty vocal in your dislike of violence.” Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. Rodney flushed.

 

      “Actually, I hate _stupid_ violence. Athena is more of an intelligent warrior, not some brute like Ares. He’s the one you’re thinking of.” Rodney huffed. Carson grimaced but nodded in agreement.

 

      “And John? Who is his… god-parent?” Elizabeth asked carefully. Rodney and Carson traded guarded looks.

 

      “Lass, you’d best ask him. Rodney and I grew up going to camp with him and other demigods. John tends to be quite private about a lot of things. It’s his story to tell if he wants to.” Carson warned.

 

      “Yes, yes, exactly. A lot of demigods are pretty private. It’s the same reason we’re not going to tell you who O’Neill’s father is.” Rodney nodded gratefully.

 

      “Then I suppose you’ll call me as soon as he wakes up, Carson?” Elizabeth got his nod of agreement and left, leaving the two of them staring after her.

 

      “Well.” Rodney fidgeted. “That went well.”

 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth Chase is the half-blood daughter of the goddess Athena and the mortal man Frederick Chase. Being a daughter of Athena, who is a maiden goddess, she was not physically born, but is a literal "brain child"—she was born as a gift to the man her mother loved- made with Athena's intellect and her father's 'mortal ingenuity'.*
> 
> *Taken from wikipedia: Annabeth Chase


	4. Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Thalia and the Hades twins are ignored by this as well as the prophecy. I mean, obviously they weren't that serious about it since both Zeus and Poseidon had kids anyway. Also, my version of the gods aren't assholes. Yeah, they're awesome and aren't nearly as uptight as in the books.

      “So apparently, you’re a demigod.” Elizabeth’s greeting cut straight to the chase. John nearly choked on his pudding. He quickly swallowed and set the cup and spoon down.

 

      “Um… yes?” He answered hesitantly. Carson had said that they’d refrained from revealing his Dad’s name, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t put two and two together to get four. She settled gracefully into a chair beside his bed and cocked her head, studying him.

 

      “I have two guesses. One from what you’ve said and another which I think fits you better. Are you waiting for me to start throwing out names?” Elizabeth said dryly. John shook his head.

 

      “Let me guess, the first was Hades, right?” He grinned at her reluctant nod. “While my uncle does favor me as he has no current children of his own and is indulgent of my requests, my father is Zeus, King of the Gods.”

 

      “That was my second guess, though I had wondered about how his prestige translated.” She admitted.

 

      “Well, the Big Three, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, are generally fathers to only one child at a time. It was a decision made following World War 2 and the chaos brought by the fight between Godborn. Hitler was a true son of Hades, stern and cruel with a proclivity for death but without Uncle’s unerring sense of justice. His mistake was to presume that if he killed enough, he could assume his father’s throne in the Underworld. Trust me, it didn’t work out well. After that, though, the Big Three restricted themselves to a single child at a time. We’re generally watched closely. I’m sure if I’d shown a hint of arrogant greed for power I wouldn’t have made it to adulthood. On the other hand, god-parents tend to dote on their children these days. I know Rodney spent his first few years on Mount Olympus. It’s why his social skills pretty much suck. He was raised in an environment where everyone was a god and tact was for mortals. He isn’t kidding about his smarts; he just tends to smack you over the head with them.” John let her hold AJ and CJ, grinning at the wonder that was obvious on her face as the currents flowed around her.

 

      “I can’t believe no one’s seen this kind of stuff before.” She smiled as AJ landed on his head, making his hair go wild.

 

      “That’s what the Mist is for. It… bends perception around the gods and demigods so that we appear very ordinary. A normal mortal, without being told the truth, wouldn’t be able to see AJ and CJ, though they’re clearly right here.” John fondly stuck his hand through AJ and wiggled his fingers playfully. Weir laughed as the current struck back by gusting into his face and making his hair blow back in a decidedly porcupine-looking manner. He grinned and smoothed it down again.

 

      “Rodney did mention that the SGC seemed to find people who could see through the mist.” She noted. He nodded.

 

      “Exactly. You’re the first person I actually told anything. No one else could see AJ or CJ.” He explained. “If not for Camp Half-blood, I’m sure we’d all be quite lonely.”

 

      “What are AJ and CJ short for? I mean, air currents don’t really have names like that, right?” Elizabeth asked.

 

      “Air currents have their own names in the language of the winds. I can speak it, but it generally takes a lot longer to say stuff. AJ and CJ are just easier. Besides, they both understand English, so it’s not that big a deal. If I was talking to Aeolus or one of the Four Winds, I’d obviously show respect by speaking in wind language. It’s a talent that comes from my dad being God of the Sky. I was born with the knowledge of how to speak it as well as the general knowledge all demigods are granted such as the ability to speak and read Ancient Greek. There can be problems with dyslexia if a demigod isn’t careful to maintain their ability to read English. Sometimes our brains would just rather read in Greek. It’s why I brought along War and Peace. It’s long enough I can make sure to keep up with my reading. I even have a schedule.” John grinned.

 

      “Can you teach the language of the winds to someone who isn’t kin to the God of the Sky?” Elizabeth questioned, hopefully. John tilted his head.

 

      “You want to learn wind language? Are you sure? I mean, it’s not like Spanish. It’s a hard language to understand, much less speak.” John raised his eyebrows as she nodded immediately. “Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to try at least. We’ll set up a time and see how it goes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She would so want to learn the language of the winds. Aleolus is the King of the Winds and unleashes storms when Zeus tells him. The Four Winds are Boreas (North), Zephryos (West), Notos (South), and Euros (East). They the big bosses of the wind world along with the diagonal winds. I made it so that children could stay with their mothers on Olympus for about two to three years. Rodney's kind of special in that Jeannie was born a few years after him and he got to stay long enough for the godliness to rub off on his social skills and personality. And it never made a whole lot of sense that the demigods would be hardwired for Ancient Greek only. I mean they are obviously half human. It seems much more useful for them to be able to read it without being crippled by it. My way just requires a little practice to keep them in English.


	5. Never Underestimate Demigods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm adapting the Hide and Seek episode in a way that doesn't really provide Rodney a chance to prove himself. Therefore I needed a way to show he could stick up for himself. Voila! Also, will not apologize for random hiatus. I warned you coming in this would update wonkily. Yes, that's a word. Or it should be.

      “Have you thought about your team members, yet?” Elizabeth asked as she set her tablet down during their first official meeting. John nodded slowly.

 

      “I’d like to ask Teyla, the leader of the Athosians, if she would act as a guide. She’s pretty good at hand-to-hand and even better at bantos rods, a form of stick fighting. She’s already offered to teach and spar with me. She’d provide valuable information to set up alliances with other worlds, ones we’re going to need if we want to survive out here. I’d also like Lt. Ford to be my other military member.” John proposed. Elizabeth frowned.

 

      “You don’t want him to have his own team?” She questioned.

 

      “He’s fairly green still. A lot of our NCOs can do a much better job at leading the rest of the teams, and putting him on my team gives him a chance to learn. It’ll give him confidence when he gets his own team.” John pointed out and continued to the last member. “For our science position, I’d prefer Rodney.”

 

      “Really?” She frowned again. “I know you want the best scientist we have, but a lot of servicemen find him abrasive. And shouldn’t our SG-1 have a military scientist, someone accustomed to fighting?”

 

      “You forget, Dr. Weir, I grew up with Rodney. I’m practically immune by now. As for his ability to take care of himself in field…” John shook his head and stood up. “No, it’s better to show you. I’ll call Teyla and Ford to the gym, too. I think it best if you realize just what demigods are capable of when the need arises.”

 

      “Very well. Lead on.” Elizabeth followed him as he put out the call. When they arrived in the gym, Teyla and Ford were waiting but Rodney hadn’t arrived yet. His absence gave Sheppard the chance to give a quick synopsis of demigod history, glossing over the names of their god-parents for the time being. By the time Rodney came strolling in, complaining, John had pretty much covered the basics.

 

      “John, what’s going on here?” Rodney eyed Elizabeth, Teyla, and Aiden suspiciously.

 

      “I told Dr. Weir that I’d like you to be on SG-1 and she expressed doubt in your ability to take care of yourself in a fight. I thought it best to show her and our other two teammates the truth of the matter.” John explained. Rodney huffed.

 

      “Have I mentioned that I hate fighting?” Rodney, nonetheless, set down his tablet and took off his jacket in preparation. John threw him one of the bantos rods, the closest they had to swords. Without warning, Rodney whipped it forward in a powerful frontal strike. John blocked it with a grin. Just like the old days. “Of course, only a moron would assume hatred of an art to be equivalent with lack of ability or talent.”

 

      “Dr. Weir’s not a moron, Rodney. You can’t keep up a façade of blustering scientist and then protest when they take you at face value.” John slid gracefully into a series of moves that left Rodney on the defensive. Rodney retaliated with a hard strike that set both John’s bantos rod and arm to vibrating. While John was graced with an inhuman ability to speak and move with the winds and throw lightning around like it was child’s play, Rodney was the son of Athena, Goddess of War. As much as hated to demonstrate it, Rodney had the upper hand in most fights. When they’d both had enough sparring, they called the match to a halt and bowed. “I see you’re still as talented as ever, Rodney. How’s your P-90 and pistol work?”

 

      “I haven’t really had a chance to try them out. People would never believe I’m just a scientist if I went out and bought military grade weapons. I don’t even think they’d give me a license without me showing off. I don’t have the time. Bet I can still kick your ass in archery, though. As long as you play fair and don’t get the wind to help you cheat, at least.” Rodney smirked. He didn’t like violence. He loved being better at it than other people, though.

 

      “Hey, I resent that. I never asked anyone to help me out. If they just happened to think you needed your ego deflated once in a while, it’s not my fault.” John defended. Rodney just rolled his eyes.

 

      “If we have any trouble, it’ll be because Casanova makes a move on the wrong girl again, not because I’m not pulling my weight when it comes to hitting people.” Rodney promised. John flushed. “Oh, don’t play innocent. Even Aphrodite told you to take a break. You made the Goddess of Love blush, John!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm way too amused with the image of young Sheppard making Aphrodite blush. Way too amused.


	6. Lantean Cruelty

“Rodney!” John spat out angrily. “I’ve found the Athosians’ ‘shadow’ and the source of our glitches and energy problems.”

 

      “Really? What does it look like?” Rodney asked eagerly. John was too angry to get caught up in his enthusiasm, though.

 

      “Well, Rodney, shadows are generally black. This time, however, it’s because **he’s** so damn mad. They  caged him, McKay! For thousands of years he’s been stuck inside that damn honey trap they built! He was so young when they caught him, just a youngling still. And now he’s learned viciousness, anger, cruelty, and pain from the so-called Lanteans. So much pain…” John let his hand rub through his hair, trying to contain his anger. He’d spent the better part of an hour explaining that they weren’t the Ancients and stabilizing the creature’s energy.

 

      “A sparkling? In Atlantis?” Rodney paled. Gods. Elizabeth approached them warily and Ford broke off from the people he was talking with to join them. “Why?”

 

      “He doesn’t know. He’s nearly insane, Rodney. It took everything I had to get him to understand that I wasn’t one of them; that I wasn’t going to shove him back into that tiny box for another ten thousand years.” John was furious.

 

      “What’s the problem, Major?” Elizabeth asked, wondering just what was going on.

 

      “The problem is that the Ancients are Grade A assholes who trapped a sentient being inside a glorified bottle for over ten thousand years.” John snapped.

 

      “John! First things first, you need to calm down. You’re popping.” Rodney pointed out the fat sparks that were slowly crawling up and down Sheppard’s arms. John’s eyes widened and he took a deep breath, letting the sparks go. He hadn’t been this angry in years. “Now second, I’m assuming that the sparkling was accidentally released by one of us. Since none of my morons have come to me to fess up about touching something they shouldn’t have and the grunts are usually better about following orders than that, we have to look to the Athosians. Only one of which is currently missing and outside your perimeter.”

 

      “You think Jinto let him out?” John asked.

 

      “Do you think you can ask him if he saw Jinto and if not, where the trap was?” Rodney continued. “Also, can you ask AJ, CJ, and any other currents if they can scout for him? Our sensors aren’t set up to detect a single, specific life sign within the city limits.”

 

      “I’ll get AJ and CJ on it. They can cover the most ground while still knowing who they’re looking for. The winds here aren’t used to humans and wouldn’t know Jinto from Dr. Kavanaugh.” John bit his lip as he felt AJ and CJ leave in search of the lost boy. “I can ask the sparkling if he’s seen a small boy, but I really don’t think it’s a good idea to bring up the trap. I’d rather gain his trust before bringing up something so traumatic.”

 

      “Of course.” Elizabeth nodded. “Now I think I figured out the gist of what you were saying, but there’s one thing I have a question about. What’s a sparkling?”

 

      “Essence of lightning. You’ve seen wind spirits. Sparklings are lightning spirits. The Ancients must have trapped this one to study and took it with them. I can’t decide if they were fools or bastards. They must have realized it was sentient some time.” John explained. “It is an elemental in my father’s domain. They had no right to cage him.”

 

      “I take it you’ve calmed him down? The energy issues we’d been noticing have stopped.” Elizabeth noted. John shrugged.

 

      “As much as possible at least.” John answered. Their discussion was interrupted by Jinto’s father, Halling. He hesitantly came up the stairs and waited respectfully. Elizabeth waved him forward.

 

      “Dr. Weir, I’d like to try talking to Jinto. I want to reassure him that he won’t be in trouble.” Halling asked. “Several of us believe that the Ancestors led him away to warn us to leave their city. If that is so, we will honor their wishes. But I will not leave without my son.”

 

      “Halling, your son just wondered off. The ‘Ancestors’ don’t give a shit about Atlantis. If they cared at all, they wouldn’t have left a sentient creature trapped here while they ran from the Wraith.” John sighed. “They left your people to die. The fact that we managed to get here has nothing to do with the Ascended and everything to do with them leaving Earth alone and letting us live. They’re scared of us, Halling.”

 

      “Why is that, Major Sheppard?” Halling looked appalled. A gust of wind heralded CJ’s return. Sheppard raised his eyebrows.

 

      _I have found him, my Lord. I can lead you to him._ CJ whistled.

 

      “They would not dare touch me, Halling, because **my** Ancestors would kick their asses.” John let CJ wind around his hand. “Let’s go. CJ is gonna lead us to him.”

 

***

 

      “Major Sheppard!” Jinto came hurtling out of one of the rooms. Sheppard grinned as he watched Jinto finally notice his dad.

 

      “Sorry for interrupting your reunion, kiddo, but Rodney and I need to know everything you touched. You’re pretty far away from the central tower.” John asked.

 

      “I touched this big box thing and this cloud came out of it! And there’s this room with a map in it. I’m really sorry.” Jinto apologized. John shook his head and crouched down to be on his eye level.

 

      “While we don’t want you to touch anything without permission, this time it’s okay. No one got hurt and that shadow was a prisoner who should never have been caged. He was a little scared at first, but I talked to him and explained what was going on.” John reassured him. “And this map room sounds really interesting.”

 

      “You talked to the cloud? How?” Jinto sounded awed. John grinned.

 

      “Show us this map room and I’ll even introduce you to him.” He promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, Ancients aren't the most upright citizens in this universe. Also, John was a bit harsh on Halling. To be fair, he did just spend over an hour calming a scared and lonely lightning elemental down and was still pissed. By the way, I'm pronouncing it spark-ling, not like the adjective.


	7. Lightning Bugs Don't React Well With Electricity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that last chap's formatting drove me bonkers. Still didn't get the initial tab in, but omg it added the chap like three times in a phantom style preview and then wouldn't delete properly from my view. Anyway, it's good enough. Here's the next. A bit shorter (yes, I took a shortcut, he happens to be a demigod) than usual.

      “Wait! The defibrillator!” Ford snapped his fingers. Teyla frowned.

 

      “Did we not already determine that the defibrillator would be rendered useless by the major’s affinity for electricity?” She pointed out. His exclamation had caught McKay’s attention.

 

      “No, no! He has a point.” McKay jumped in. “Listen, this bug is draining your energy, right?”

 

      “A little bit, yeah, Rodney.” John gasped out. “I can’t even hold onto a spark.”

 

      “It’s like jumpstarting a car!” Ford nodded. Rodney rolled his eyes.

 

      “Yes, if you want to compare your commanding officer to an automobile. John, can you channel it if we hit you with enough juice?” Rodney asked. John thought about it.

 

      “Think so. Won’t know until we try.” John gritted his teeth and tried to push himself up the closed Jumper door. “This bug is way too much like the Wraith for comfort. If we’re gonna try, we need to do it before I get any weaker. Charge it full power and be ready in case this thing jumps off before I can fry its buggy ass.”

 

      “Yes, sir.” Ford gulped and readied the paddles while Teyla cut him out of his shirt. “I really hope this works, sir.”

 

      “Trust me, the worst that could happen is nothing at all. Like we said already, defibrillators are useless for killing me. I handle bigger charges before breakfast usually.” John grinned weakly and took a deep breath, readying himself to channel the energy. He nodded and Ford carefully placed the paddles down and triggered them. John immediately grabbed as much as he could and sent it racing over the bug, faintly disturbed by the shrill screeching it was doing. Finally the thing had enough and exploded in a disgusting pop of goo and flesh. McKay turned around and started gagging, but John had a better idea. He harnessed the last bits of power and sent them racing into the control panel. The ship groaned as the reverse thrusters fired and pulled free of the Stargate. Before he lost control he gently shoved the forward thrust back on and triggered the drive pods to retract manually. Less than thirty seconds after he had been hit by the defibrillator, they arrived safely in Atlantis. McKay gaped while Stackhouse and Markham were craned around in the seats wondering who the hell was piloting. Sheppard gave a grin and managed one last sentence before passing out, eyes rolling back in his head. “Remote control jumpers, that’s cool.”

 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: after this, I'm going a bit spotty for a few episodes. I don't really like rewriting the boring ones where nothing much changes. So the next chap will mostly be a series of flashes. Probably up until the Storm... which, wow, am looking forward to writing that. So many ideas, so little time.


	8. Pretty Necklaces and Exploding Bad Guys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Suspicion' tag

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm. So not as short as I'd been thinking 'Suspicion' would go. I ended up watching the ep again on Netflix and my wordcount for this chap doubled. I have no idea how.

***

 

      John’s not sure why he didn’t sense it earlier. Although, in all honesty, he had been a bit distracted when he first gave her the necklace and, despite the rabid rumors, he didn’t actually spend that much time with Teyla and no time at all with his hands/face on her chest. Still, had he felt the initializing pulse everything would have been much simpler. No, instead it took until he had finally given in to the opportunity to spar with Teyla (she was actually quite good and had he not been born a demigod he could easily see her kicking his ass… repeatedly). She managed to fend him off for a good twenty minutes, a lot longer than anyone short of Rodney or Carson, (when he actually chose to fight since he was usually too much of a doctor to hit people) but he finally got the hang of the two sticks instead of the one sword and took her down. As he did, his hand brushed the necklace he’d found. The slight tingle/pulse he felt was barely noticeable, but it certainly surprised him. Enough so that Teyla managed to flip him over and pin him in the same position she’d been in a half a second earlier.

 

      “What in Hades?” John stared at the small, silver, seemingly harmless necklace. His mind raced for a second before he prioritized. _AJ, get Rodney down here with a scanner. Now!_

 

      “John? Are you okay?” Teyla rolled off of him and up to her feet in a smooth move that made John wish he was that graceful. Instead he used a couple of friendly breezes to yank himself up and then landed lightly on the floor.

 

      “Teyla, don’t take this the wrong way, but just how long has that necklace been in your family?” John pointed, eyebrows raised. Teyla’s eyebrows drew together in surprise. Good, she hadn’t known. Which meant that it was probably his ATA gene that triggered it. Wonderful. No wonder the Wraith had already shown up so many times on their missions. Although… hmmm. Now there’s an idea.

 

***

 

      “Self-destruct!” Sheppard yelled as the drone soldier hit his chest and an ominous beeping started. He quickly threw out a tendril of wind and sent it out behind his men. As the blast went off, he used it to shove everyone to safety. He heard Ford call out and Rodney was right next to him trying to get the dirt and debris out of his hair, but where was Teyla? Suddenly, a series of pistol shots had everyone jerking to their feet. Sheppard took it a bit farther and shoved himself up with a giant burst of air and ‘flew’ in the direction of the shots. It was actually one of the things he loved most about his powers; he had joined the Air Force mainly to try to recapture that feeling of weightlessness and freedom. He couldn’t actually sustain flight like this indefinitely, but he was able to get over fifty feet in the air and float/fall with direction. It was awesome.

 

This time, however, he was distracted by the search for his missing teammate. Finally he spotted her and dove for them, landing easily. He ran the last few yards, watching their fight. He winced at the hole she left in her guard just as the Wraith, an unmasked leader this time, took advantage of it and shoved her down. As the creature shifted to kneel over her, Sheppard summoned a miniature lightning bolt (and thought wistfully of the master bolt that his father had- it allowed him to summon full lightning bolts and didn’t require a supply of energy) which struck the Wraith on his side and, though small, still threw him a couple of feet, stunning him. Sheppard spared a glance to check on Teyla before running to flip the Wraith over, sending tendrils of ropes to wrap around his wrists. Just in time, as he immediately tried for something on his wrist. Sheppard yanked his hands apart, forcing the wind ropes to each side so that he couldn’t touch anything that would go boom (or a beacon, but that was still less frightening than a prisoner who committed suicide so explosively). “Hey, let’s not go blowing ourselves up now, buddy. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

 

      “Thank you, major.” Teyla approached from his right as the Wraith sneered and hissed angrily. She sounded a bit out of breath, but there was no sign of discomfort in her breathing that indicated broken ribs. He nodded.

 

      “You did good, Teyla. We were so occupied with trying to capture our guy that we didn’t see this one skulking off. Might want to call for backup next time, though.” Sheppard raised an eyebrow and dragged the still snarling Wraith up with the invisible wind ropes, arms held out his sides. “We’ll have to strip him of anything that has a power source before he goes through the gate. I’ll double check when we get him into proper restraints. I hope you aren’t too attached to that necklace. Once we get back we’re sticking that thing inside a shielded box so that it is never able to call the Wraith down again. Maybe now we can get some actual introductions made before we have to run for our lives.”

 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few eps will be skipped (unless I discover something lurking in my subconscious that brain ninjas me into writing a tag; it's happened before). Right now the plan is to pick back up with a short tag for 'Home' and the rest of the eps are assumed to be similar if not identical to canon. I did expand a bit more on what Sheppard is capable of in this one. I'm still looking forward to 'The Storm' and 'The Eye'!


End file.
